Western Orphan Trains

Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to "aging out" out of the foster care system. A community-service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse.... As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.

Nine-year-old Ethan Cooper has managed to keep his family together for a year in a Pennsylvania orphanage. Now he and his siblings are boarding a train headed west. He can't help but worry: Mr. and Mrs. Rush in Nebraska have agreed to adopt all four Cooper children, but what if they change their minds? In the meantime, Ethan and his siblings encounter their first dust storm, explore train cars, and watch friend after friend leave with new parents. The children dream that soon they will have a new ma and pa too.

Lily Chalmers wanted only two things from life: a farm of her own, and to find the sisters she hadn't seen since they were all little girls heading west on the orphan train. She certainly had no desire for a husband.

Bridget Collins is in dire straits - she needs to get out of New York, fast. With two young siblings under her wing, her options are limited. Her priest sends her as an outplacement agent on the orphan trains that run from New York to out west. With almost 40 orphans under her care, she's relieved that fellow and more experienced outplacement agent Carl Watson is there to guide her. But Carl is dealing with his own trauma and finds it difficult to handle the pain the orphans are dealing with.

Book 7 in the Orphan Train series takes listeners on a journey to Ireland, where Lily and Charlie find themselves on an adventure. Meanwhile, back at the Sanctuary in New York, Kathleen is left in charge and is facing a host of problems. With the new factory opening soon, the Chivers children searching for a permanent home, and a couple of stray orphans in need of her care, Kathleen feels like she's in over her head. As she tries to navigate these challenges, she finds herself wishing Lily would come home soon. Charlie surprised Lily with tickets for the Titanic's maiden voyage.

Despite her unconventional upbringing - she'd been adopted off the orphan train by the local "madam" - Emma Chalmers was the most prim and proper young lady in all of Whitneyville. Why, she wouldn't even permit Fulton Whitney to kiss her, and they were practically engaged!

Holding her lovely head high, Wyoming schoolmistress Caroline Chalmers did what no lady should: She marched right into the local saloon to see the dashing and reckless Guthrie Hayes. Worse still, she went to ask him for help. She needed the former Confederate raider to plan a jailbreak to rescue her fiancé, Seaton Flynn, from the hangman's noose. An orphan by spinster sisters, Caroline was prepared do almost anything to save her beloved Seaton.

Between 1854 and 1930, more than 200,000 orphaned or abandoned children were sent west on orphan trains to find new homes. Some were adopted by loving families; others were not as fortunate. In recent years, some of the riders have begun to share their stories. Andrea Warren alternates chapters about the history of the orphan trains with the story of Lee Nailling, who in 1926 rode an orphan train to Texas.

Kelli is a 19-year-old orphan who lives and teaches at a New York orphanage. She is sent west on the Orphan Train to oversee the children. When the train reaches Kansas, the end of the line, and Kelli realizes that she must return to New York, she makes a desperate plea to a golden-bronzed cowboy, asking to fill the place of a mail order bride he advertised for to raise his little girl.

Between 1850 and 1930, around 250,000 abandoned and orphaned children traveled from the East Coast of the US to various cities and towns throughout the nation on what would be known as the orphan trains. Most came from New York City. Posters were placed around town advertising "Homes Wanted for Orphans"; usually a committee was formed to help facilitate the adoption. These children were supposed to be adopted and treated as family members, but this was not always the case however, and sometimes they were placed in less than ideal circumstances.

Kathleen Green longs for a child of her own. Her work with the orphan trains only serve to heighten her need. When tragedy strikes, will she get the child she always wanted? Will the cost be worth it?

Kenny Clark knows Santa is magical and only he can find his family. Kathleen Collins fights poverty and desperation every day in her bid to find new homes for the orphans of New York. But what about her happily ever after?

Lydia finds out at her father’s deathbed that he has arranged for her to marry the son of an old family friend to cancel a debt. At first, Lydia rejects the idea, but then circumstances suddenly make it so she feels she needs to honor her father’s last wishes, and she travels to Texas to meet the man her father has chosen.

A delightful holiday tale of orphans and reformed outlaws in the old west looking for love and a home. With Christmas getting closer, can Jameson Rogers find a wife to help him raise his brother's children? Who would take on an old reformed outlaw and a passel of kids? Five, in fact, who were looking for a mother this Christmas since he accidentally mentioned he was going to send for a mail order bride. Except, he got too busy and ordered the wrong thing. Chrissy loves babies. So much, in fact, she offers to deliver the last infant from the orphan home to the Roger's family personally, ...

Two New York girls, Maria Mezza and Alice Doe, wake up one November morning in 1906. Their lives are about to change forever. Maria is heading to her first job in a shirtwaist factory wishing she was heading to the country side. Alice is leaving New York to find a new family in Illinois country side. Three years later, the paths of the two girls will converge once more. Gone is the innocence of youth yet both girls are desperately hoping their lives will improve. Maria is caught up in the Shirtwaist Strike while Alice is on the run for her life.`

What if you were given the opportunity to travel with an orphan train to be adopted by a new family? Anna travels on an orphan train with 18 other children to a small town in Texas. She is taken in by an older couple that owns the town’s General Store. Even though her new family isn’t cruel to her, they expect her to work for her keep, and they definitely don’t give her the love she desperately wants. When she is an adult, she answers a mail-order bride ad she sees in the local newspaper, and agrees to marry a rancher, the oldest of three brothers.

In this novella, Maribelle is asked to leave the orphanage at age 18. She isn't sure where to go or what to do, so she jumps at the chance to ride the Orphan Train and help take care of the 24 children. At the final stop in Missouri, she is once again concerned about her future return to Boston, but when a handsome man asks if he can "adopt" her to help take care of "Connie", she immediately agrees. Will Maribelle, "Belle", find a home and love in Missouri or have to return to the orphan life in Boston?

All Holly wants is to join her younger brother in Golden, Colorado with his adopted father for Christmas, so when the opportunity to ride on the Orphan Train arises, she jumps at the chance. However, her unexpected arrival in town right before Christmas is not what Jake Carson had planned for Christmas, but since she is his adopted son Tommy's sister, he feels he must take her in for the holiday. Will Holly find a new home in Golden, Colorado and perhaps a true love by Christmas?

She never expected to kiss an outlaw…and like it. While traveling to meet her intended, Kinsley Paulson is faced with a decision: stand up to the outlaw threatening to take all she holds dear or do as he says and kiss him. She does what she must to keep her family’s possessions. Kinsley throws her arms around the man and experiences her first kiss. And she enjoys it more than she should, especially since she’ll soon be saying her vows. Kinsley pushes aside the kiss that changes her life and meets her groom. She knows he’s hiding something. She won’t rest until she discovers his ...

Violet lies and steals to get on the Orphan Train going to Kansas, where she hopes to make a new start and find a husband. She wants to forget about the fire in the sewing factory that has left her body and mind scarred. However, once she reaches Kansas, and her lies catch up with her, the chances that the handsome Micah will marry her are dashed. With God's forgiveness and her public testimony, Violet begins to find the healing she needs, but will Micah be able to forgive her?